and family

Adrienne’s Story

As told by her Mother
On Wednesday, February 02, 2011, I was just one day past my due date. I got up and did some laundry because, kiddingly I thought, I did not know when I would be able do laundry again. For breakfast, I had a bowl of cereal and my usual banana. As I was putting the laundry away, I felt a leakcalled for my mother and asked her what was happening. She was not quite sure at this point but was glad that I was going to see the doctor that day. I also decided I would eat lunch after my doctor’s appointment because it would not be all that late.

I went to my scheduled doctor’s appointment at 1:00pm. I had an ultrasound and all of the results came back good. I still had enough amniotic fluid, and the baby was still healthy. Dad and I finished with the ultrasound at 1:30pm and waited in the waiting room until 2:00pm for my appointment, at which time they measured my blood pressure and weight. Then, I had “mat time” with my doctor, Dr. Sharon Seidel. I told her I needed to speak to her about something right away. We stepped into another room just as she was called to check on something else. When she returned to the room, I explained to her what was happening to me. She asked me if I wanted to be checked out and, of course, I thought this was the right thing to do. Dr. Dawn Stanley, my other doctor, asked me to go to a room where she could check me. At this point, I was out of control!! I told her there was no possible way I could take my shorts off without making a mess. She assured me that was all right and told me to do my best. Well, I ended up making a big mess of the room and my clothes! Dr. Dawn checked me and said my water had broken, and I was dilated to 1cm. Dr. Sharon and Dr. Dawn got my paper work together and admitted me to Labor and Delivery at the Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. On the way across the street, we called both of our mothers to let them know I was going straight to Labor and Delivery. Shortly after talking to them; Grandma Long, Nana Barrows, and Aunt Anna Barrows arrived at the hospital, hoping to see a baby that night!
We arrived at Labor and Delivery and were settled in our room by 3:05pm. They immediately hooked me up to an IV. They had a hard time getting the IV in. Finally after trying 3 times, they were able to put the IV in my hand. They put me on Pitocin immediately and then started the epidural after that. I quickly became numb. After which I was unable to get up and move around, including using the restroom; so, they put a catheter in me, which in a way was really nice, because then I did not have to get up five times that night to go to the restroom! Of course, I also had the baby hooked up to a monitor, me hooked up to another monitor, and a machine taking my blood pressure every hour.

After administering the epidural, they decided I needed to roll onto my right side, hoping this would help me to become dilated faster. Shortly after moving me to that side, the monitors showed something the nurse didn’t like. Suddenly we had five nurses and a doctor in the room trying to figure out what would be best to do next? The baby’s heart beat had dropped way too low! They immediately moved me back onto my back and the baby calmed down. About an hour or so later, they decided to try again, but this time they turned me to my left side and there was no problem. All night long they rotated me from my back, to my left side, to a sitting position. It was a long night! I asked the nurse what time would she guess that the baby would come, and she thought maybe around 5:00am, or so? Since we then realized that we were not going to be having a baby very soon, we sent our mothers home and told them we would ask them to come back when we knew a little more. We talked to them throughout the following day, keeping them informed of our progress. Through out all of this time, I was only able to eat ice chips and nothing else because of the epidural. By 11:00am on Thursday, February 03, 2011, I was dilated to 8cm and was getting closer to delivery. Around 2:40pm, I called for my nurse to come to my room because the epidural medicine had worn off. I told her prior to her leaving my room, and she said she would take care of it when she could get back, in about ten minutes. She took a long time coming back because her other patient was in labor, too, and she was needed to help with her. Eventually, I pushed the button for a nurse, and she came immediately and gave me some more medicine. That nurse also checked me. She said I was at 10cm, and I was going to be delivering my baby at any minute. They prepped me for delivery, had me practice pushing one time, and then checked me once more. At that time, they realized I was really still only at 8cm.! Very soon, all of the doctors and nurses arrived who needed to be in my room for the delivery of our baby. They decided to give me another hour to see if I could dilate to 10cm before making the final decision to perform a c-section. At 4:15pm, the doctor returned and there had been no change.
They began prepping me for a c-section—increasing the epidural medicine, taking a last blood pressure check, and making sure everything on the baby was looking good. They asked Dad to put on his outfit there in the room—a body suit, shoe coverings, a hat, and a mouth/nose guard. They unhooked me from any cords and wheeled me in the bed to the Operating Room. By the time I arrived in the OR, I was shivering uncontrollably. They laid some hot blankets on me to try to help me get warmer. That helped me stop shaking some but once the blankets cooled down, I began shaking again. They asked Dad to leave the room so they could sterilize everything in the room before the operation. They put up a blue blanket to block my view from seeing them operate on me. The doctors allowed Dad to come back into the OR, making sure he did not touch anything. He was asked to sit in a chair by my head, and neither one of us could see what was happening. Both of my doctors ~ Dr. Sharon Seidel and Dr. Dawn Stanley ~ were able to be there to operate on me. Following checking me and making sure I was completely numb, they started the process of delivering our baby. As soon as Adrienne Louise was out, they lowered the curtain just enough for Dad to see you, but I was still unable to see anything. After cleaning you up a little bit, they laid you beside me, but I was not able to really touch you because of the position in which I was lying. Very soon, they took you away to measure your weight and length. Next, you were cleaned up and Dad was able to hold you. Because you were a c-section baby, you still had some fluid in your lungs. They gave us a suction to get the extra saliva out of your mouth whenever you had bubbles. The doctors soon noticed that there was quite a lot of fluid in your lungs, so they took you from Dad to get it allsuctioned out. Dad left the room and went to the recovery room, stopping by the newborn window to look at you while waiting for me to be finished being stapled. I arrived twenty minutes later, but at this point, you were already gone. I stayed in the recovery room for an hour, and then I was taken to my room. It was another half hour before they finally brought you back to me. This was my first time holding you.
Adrienne Louise Barrows, you were born at 5:09pm, on February 03, 2011. You weighed 7lb and 7.4oz and were 21¼ inches long.
We thank the Lord for you and love you so very much!
Love, Dad and Mom